YANGON AND MANDALAY CONSTITUTE TO ~60% OF MYANMAR’S PHARMACEUTICAL SALES

Source: http://www.myanmarhealthcareconsulting.com/

Myanmar’s pharmaceutical industry is estimated to be ~USD 650 million in 2018. The industry is dominated by Indian pharma companies which are estimated to have ~40% of the market share. Ranbaxy, Dr. Reddy’s & Sun are some prominent Indian companies having operations in Myanmar.

In March 2013, Myanmar announced a reorganization of its Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and to increase staffing from 16 to 600 to focus on :

Building additional capabilities in the area of drug registration (curtail issues of pharma black market, trademark enforcements)

Support Ministry of Health to update the National formulary (no significant upgrades since the past 20 years)

Updating the Essential Medicine List (EML) for Myanmar

An easier centralized tendering procedure (currently tendering in government hospitals is very poorly planned tenders at short notice, not well advertised)

Myanmar Pharmaceutical Industry

Source: Solidiance Research & Analysis

Local Pharmacy in Yangon

Myanmar Distribution Scenario of Pharmaceuticals

Pharma distribution is considered the key success factor in Myanmar. Yangon houses the largest pharma wholesale of the country. The market has two Tier 1 multinational distributors. Distribution of pharmaceuticals is considered as the main challenge in Myanmar.

In the absence of a strong tendering system, a strong distribution partner is alone considered as the most crucial factor for success in Myanmar. A good distributor should have strong relationships and access to its customers. It should be aware of floated tenders. In light of the corrupt business practices present in the country, this success factor also poses as a compliance risk to the multinationals. Mingalar Market of Yangon house 100s of distributors, wholesalers and dealers for medicines of varied sizes. Mingalar market has been historically considered the central point of pharma distribution across Myanmar.

In the organized distribution, there are only two Tier 1 distribution companies in Myanmar :